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NOT ONE DAMN STUDENT did it. I was.....flabbergasted. Elie gave a tremendous speech about morals, politics, humanity, and how to improve our world and they just blew it off. I was shocked.

Blowing off work is inexcusable. It never stops bothering me when my students fail to appreciate something as much as I do. But over the years, I've come to accept that most students will NOT love the same things I do or "get" the importance I see in them. Their experience with the material will be different and I would argue it should be different. I still get upset and the kids need to see me disappointed in order to understand how valuable whatever it was that they ignored truly is. I remind students that they should worry about the teachers who are unmoved when their students fail to demonstrate learning and interest.

All my grading-to-get-to is still in a pile on the floor (which is actually less than I'd expected to take home with me due to a school emergency evacuation before the last two periods of the day Friday). I am trying to distance myself from the nitty-gritty parts of school until perhaps '09. But the thoughts are there, lingering like the Dark Side.

I finished grading research papers and portfolios for 61/80 students on the 12th. I actually graded for about 10 hours on that wednesday, thursday, and then for about 8 hours on that friday before I was done. So far, no hate mail yet and I've had probably about 10 kids stop by my office last week to pick them up.

So, my vacation actually started at 4pm on friday, december 12th when I went to the faculty christmas party, where there was LOTS of wine and beer and lots of great food. I was pretty content.

Now, i'm just relaxing till classes start on Jan 12th; i need to brush up on word and excel for a class i'm teaching and i'm working on an article for the Pennsylvania CFP that discusses the antihero in graphic novels. Good times. hahaha

"Woke up at 9.55am. Soon as I woke up, I looked at Suzanne and she looked at me. I said, 'Did I tell you about the immune system?' Suzanne starting laughing, I said, 'it's amazing.' She said, 'Not now.'"

HappyHolidays to all of you hard-working teachers! Enjoy your brief time off!

My wife is still decompressing and not quite in holiday mode yet. I'm hoping for a transition any moment! :crossed fingers:

No Grinches allowed!

My transition to holiday mode came early this year. For starters, our last day of school was supposed to be Friday, December 19th. That means 5 days off before the big day. And two weeks off before reconvening in January. Our district is accustomed to going right to December 23rd.

However mother nature intervened with an early Christmas present by giving us a wicked snowstorm on Friday morning. Even though the snow didn't arrive until 8 a.m., superintendents across the region canceled school in unison well before that time.

I kinda had a feeling the night before on Thursday that we might not have snow. Local meteorologists hyped the storm up prior and the last words from our superintendent during the teacher's Christmas party was to "check the radio tomorrow," for weather reports.

Now, I normally am giddy about snow days but the fact is the last day before break is a special day filled with parties and such. I usually give my students a light workload during the day by doing Holiday related puzzles and games. We were in the process of finishing our novel "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." I had planned on showing Mickey's Christmas Carol.

I still had a gift to finish for the parents of my students too (I did luckily send one home the real last day of school). I am sure we will have the party after break but it won't be the same. Guess I can't complain with having time off.

Happy Holidays to all SSG members, teachers, their spouses, or not!

BCJ, can you elaborate on your early release on your last day before break?

"The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see, the future is. But this I am sure of - do their duty the Jedi will." --Yoda from Attack of the Clones.

BCJ, can you elaborate on your early release on your last day before break?

Someone put some dry ice in a trashcan in the cafeteria, mixed with some other chemical, creating a noxious gas cloud that required fire, police, and haz mat teams about three hours to contain (we were to keep our students in our classrooms until then). Sent 22 students and staff to the hospital. Happy holidays, punks.

Someone put some dry ice in a trashcan in the cafeteria, mixed with some other chemical, creating a noxious gas cloud that required fire, police, and haz mat teams about three hours to contain (we were to keep our students in our classrooms until then). Sent 22 students and staff to the hospital. Happy holidays, punks.

Yea! My wife is now recognizable! Decompression complete! She's now enjoying the last week of her vacation....just in time for me to go back to work tonight!

I've had 17 days off (I earned a snow day on the last day scheduled--December 19th) and 11 work days off (which is 2 less than what my brother receives for the whole year). Now I and Tee Eye's wife will be back in grinch mode.

"The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see, the future is. But this I am sure of - do their duty the Jedi will." --Yoda from Attack of the Clones.